Reuse is using an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function, and new-life reuse where it is used for a new function. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw materials which are used to make new items.

Reuse can have financial and environmental benefits, either of which can be the main motivation for it. The financial motivation historically did, and in the developing world still does, lead to very high levels of reuse, but rising wages and consequent consumer demand for the convenience of disposable products made the reuse of low value items such as packaging uneconomic in richer countries, leading to the demise of many reuse schemes. Current environmental awareness is gradually changing attitudes and regulations, such as the new packaging regulations, are gradually beginning to reverse the situation.

The classic example of conventional reuse is the doorstep delivery of milk in reusable bottles; other examples include the retreading of tires and the use of plastic delivery trays (transit packing) in place of cardboard cartons.

Advantages and disadvantages

• Energy and raw materials savings as replacing many single use products with one reusable one reduces the number that need to be manufactured.

• Reduced disposal needs and costs.

• Refurbishment can bring sophisticated, sustainable, well paid jobs to underdeveloped economies.

• Cost savings for business and consumers as a reusable product is often cheaper than the many single use products it replaces.

• Some older items were better handcrafted and appreciate in value.

Disadvantages are also apparent:

• Reuse often requires cleaning or transport, which have environmental costs.

• Some items, such as freon appliances or infant auto seats, could be hazardous or less energy efficient as they continue to be used.

• Reusable products need to be more durable than single use products, and hence require more material per item. This is particularly significant if only a small proportion of the reusable products are in fact reused.

• Sorting and preparing items for reuse takes time, which is inconvenient for consumers and costs money for businesses.

Remanufacturing

The cheapest reuse economies are "repair and overhaul" industries which take valuable parts, such as engine blocks , toner cartridges, "one use" cameras, aircraft hulls, and cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and refurbish them in a factory environment, hoping to meet the same specifications as new products. Xerox (copy machines), Video Display Corp.(CRTs) and Cummins Engine are examples of refurbishing factories in the USA. Rolls Royce has a very large aircraft remanufacturing factory in Singapore; Caterpillar recently announced the opening of a tractor refurbishing plant in China. Some factories operate in competition with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). When the refurbished item is resold under a new label (used monitor CRTs made into TVs, or cameras resold under a new label) this has been found legal by most courts. When the item is resold under the same OEM name, it is informally considered a "gray market" item - if it is sold as used, it's legal, if it's represented as an OEM product eligible for rebates and warrantees, it is considered "counterfeit" or "black market". The automobile parts industry in the USA is governed by laws on the disclosure of "used" parts, and mattresses which are slept on once by a consumer are required to be destroyed in some statesFact: date=February 2007. Whether these laws are in place to protect consumers from black market items, or to protect manufacturers ("hindsight obsolescence"), is often an area of intense debate. Fuji Photo Film Co. v. Jazz Photo Corp. is a recent example of the war between patent holders and refurbishing factories. To quote the 2003 District Court of New Jersey: '' "Thus, the key issue in the dispute between Fuji and Jazz is whether the cameras sold by Jazz are "refurbished" in such a way that they can be considered to have been permissibly "repaired" or impermissibly "reconstructed."''